How to Safely Heat Your Home With a Space Heater or Fireplace

If you’re one of those fancy pants types with central heating in your house, this article doesn’t apply to you, but it does if you live in a place with suboptimal heating – maybe because you’re in a warmer climate and you just need some warmth nights a year – there are possibilities to keep your crib warm this winter (without accidentally burn it down).

How to use a space heater as safely as possible

If you only heat one or two rooms in your home, you will probably use a space heater. Whether electric fan heaters, infrared, ceramic, radiant heaters or oil heaters, more than half of Americans have used portable heaters to combat the cold of winter. They are cheap and easy to use—but she are dangerous, to. According to that US Department of Energy, Portable heaters are responsible for approximately 25,000 fires in the United States each year, resulting in approximately 300 deaths and approximately 6,000 emergency room visits.

If you’re using a small heater this winter, please take the following tips seriously so you don’t burn down your house, get carbon monoxide poisoning, or Electrocuting yourself:

• Make sure your smoke detectors are working, charged, and of the type that also measures carbon monoxide.
• Make sure the heater you use carries the Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) label. This means that it meets current safety standards.
• Use the right size heater for the space you want to heat.
• Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
• Place your heater on a level, flat, stable, non-flammable surface such as a B. a tiled floor.
• Make sure there is at least three feet of space between the heater and anything remotely flammable. This includes rugs and rugs, bedding, curtains and wall hangings.
• Your heater should have a feature that automatically turns it off if it tips over, but check to make sure.
• Do not use unvented combustion heaters, such as some kerosene heaters, in your home. This is how you get carbon monoxide poisoning.
• If possible, plug the heater directly into the outlet. If you must use an extension cord (and you shouldn’t if possible), make sure it’s an extension cord Heavy-duty 14-gauge or larger cable.
• Turn off the heater whenever you leave the room
• It is possible to die from hyperthermia (overheating) caused by space heaters, so never leave a child, a person with mobility or sensory impairments, or an elderly person alone in a room with a space heater.
• Never – and I can’t stress this enough – use a grill, oven or any type of cooking appliance to heat your home. However, you can bake a cake in your oven. It will warm up the kitchen but hopefully you will remember to turn it off. As a bonus, you have Cake.

How to use a fireplace as safely as possible

Fireplaces are generally responsible for fewer fires than space heaters each year, but they can still be dangerous. How to use them safely:

• Never leave a fire burning in the fireplaces unattended.
• Be sure to open the chimney before starting a fire.
• Make sure the embers in the fireplace are out before you go to bed.
• Use a glass or metal fire screen to keep the embers in the fireplace.
• Have all stoves, chimneys, fireplaces, wood and coal stoves checked and, if necessary, cleaned annually by a specialist.